


Feverish

by berryskep



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Comfort, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fever, Fever Dreams, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Night Terrors, Sick Character, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-30
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:35:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 18,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28366263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/berryskep/pseuds/berryskep
Summary: Zak didn't wanna get sick. Not at all. He just so happened too at the worst time possible. Then his friends thought he was trying to get out of work. They thought he was lazy.He thought they didn't care about him.They did.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Tommyinnit & Tubbo, Zak Ahmed & Darryl Noveschosch
Comments: 12
Kudos: 149





	1. Summary/Preview :)

"Chat, chat...what if like, me and Tubbo and Dream and like everyone else moved in together? That would be pretty pogchamp, right chat?"

Maybe Tommy made a mistake saying that. Or maybe he didn't. From his perspective it didn't seem like such a big deal. To the stans, oh the poor twitter stans. They already have enough trust issues, Tommy!

Now, most of the people on the Dream SMP didn't see the clip at first. And if they did they just ignored it. It was just a stream clip. Then Skeppy sent it into the group chat that they had for everyone on the smp and some extra.

That made stuff a bit more interesting.

And then they moved in. Just like that. With minimal planning.

For Zak, maybe it wasn't the best. I mean, he was excited, he loved the idea, but what happens to him, yeah, maybe that wasn't the great. He got it. Everyone was stressed. But neglecting his illness, not very fun. 

It really wasn't neglecting if you think about it. To some it may seem so, but no one actually knew about it. They kinda thought he was exaggerating just some sniffles or thought he just wanted out of the work. 

So he just kept working. 

Not good. 

Not good at all.

COMING SOON!! :))))


	2. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> :]

"Chat, chat...what if like, me and tubbo and dream and like everyone else moved in together? That would be pretty pogchamp, right chat?"

Maybe Tommy made a mistake saying that. Or maybe he didn't. From his perspective it didn't seem like such a big deal. To the stans, oh the poor twitter stans. They already have enough trust issues, Tommy!

Now, most of the people on the Dream SMP didn't see the clip at first. And if they did they just ignored it. It was just a stream clip. Then Skeppy sent it into the group chat that they had for everyone on the smp and some extra.

That made stuff a bit more interesting.

derpy: Attachment: 1 Video

derpy: tommy wtf ist his

Tomathy: its a clip of my stream you dumbass

derpy: no liek do you want tha tto become a reality

Tomathy: wait what

Tomathy: ???

derpy: do you gyus want to move to la??

Tomathy: are you trolling or being serious

derpy: /srs

nightmare: im down

GOGYYYY: if dreams down im down

sippy cup: DREAM TEAM MEETUP LETS GOOOO

tubbox: i would if tommy would :)

tomathy: YOU HAVENT FUCJJING VISITED ME IN EXLIE THOUGHT UBBO

tubbox: i thought you were dead?

tomathy: WTF I AM NOT DEAD I AM VERY MUCH SO ALIVE!!!!!

tobbox: what about the lore thuogh? I'm supposed to think your dead

tomathy: CAN WE IGNORE THE LORE FOR ONE FUCKING STREAM!!!!!!

tubbox: i guess we could do a non cannon stream doing something fun in lmanburg

tomathy: ok ok ok ok :)

jacobs: i cant move to la sorry i have videos to record with jimmy :(

derpy: its okay karl you can always come to visit

mr. muffins: i wanna move in skeppy owo

derpy: :OOOO really???

mr. muffins: yes!!

harv: i will move in with you zak!!!!!!!!

derpy: yooo imma move ni with some of my best friends!!!

geo: wait if me and harv move in with you itll be like old times

derpy: the nostolgia!!!

zelk: im lowkey down if youre all down

rosie: id be down

toes: as long as i get to suck your toes :)

derpy: vurb you are officialy banned from moving in eith us /srs

toes: wtf :(

zelk: yeah we dont want you being weird vurb

toes: you guys are mean :((((

rosie: stfu

fundy: im not moving in with all of you

nightmare: :( okay

wilbur: maybe in the future, but not now

piggy: i think ill speak for the rest of the people that havent answered and say no

derpy: fine

piggy: fine

derpy: FINE

tomathy: are we all actually going to move in???

derpy: ill look for houses in la so yes

tomathy: POG

Zak smiled at his phone. The conversation and the decision made him feel like he was having a fever dream. It was surreal to think that he could very well be moving in with his closest friends, meeting them for the first time. Absolute mind boggling.

He immediately went onto his computer, looking at bigger houses. Many were either too small, too expensive or both. So instead he hopped into his car and drove around. He drove around for hours on end, just driving around LA. It was lowkey relaxing and therapeutic, but soon it got too dark to continue and he went back to his apartment.

He spent the next three days straight driving around, searching for houses. He couldn't sleep most of the time when he tried, he was too excited. He drove close to his current apartment, around the neighborhood and an hour away. After days of searching he came upon a house. It was big, big enough for everyone that wanted to move in. The only thing,it was run down and would need a lot of work.

Zak pulled out his phone shooting a text in a group chat he made for people that were potentially moving in, asking how much they were willing to pitch in for the house and renovations. In total, everyone chimed in with enough money for the payments, with a large help from Zak.

Then it was official. Zak bought the house and everyone had a set date to come. They planned to work on the house together, with limited help from hired builders. Tommy wanted them to suffer FOR THE LIKES.

Once they had the date and the children had permission from their parents to go, everything was set. It was time to cause chaos.

At first, Tommy posted the clip Zak sent in the chat of him saying that everyone moving in would be poggers, and gaining the most amount of likes he had ever gotten.

Multiple things started trending on Twitter within the hour of the post. So naturally they decided to cause more chaos.

Dream posted a single date on his main account. January 12.

They all sat back in a call, watching the chaos ensue, laughing at the stans. The poor twitter stans. The poor stans and their trust issues. They don't deserve this.

They let the drama go on for a few days, letting the stans settle down a bit before spreading the news.

Zak, being the one to bring it up, and pay for a majority of it, tweeted out to let them know.

"Hi guys, so tommy and dream tweeted a few days ago about potentially moving in together, and i would like to let you guys know that yes we are moving in together. Its not everyone on the server unfortunately, there are way too many people and not everyone could do it, but january 12th is the day everyone will be arriving in LA :)"

It's safe to say that twitter was burning to the ground after that. People were still skeptical and getting anxious so Zak sent out another tweet to ease them. 

"Us moving in together is /srs"


	3. 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw // swearing

The last week passed before everyone arrived. Everyone had packed and was ready to leave, super excited. Zak went out and bought everything they would need for renovations and fixing the outside. Of course he couldn't buy everything, but he bought a lot that he knew for sure they would need.

Then everyone arrived. Zak picked them all up individually and dropped them off at his apartment, which he was moving out of. By the end of the day, a small section of the people were there, such as Harvey, Sapnap, and Dream. Skeppy was sad when he found out that Bad wasn't going to be there for another day.

The next day, Zak woke up invigorated. He was gonna meet up with Bad for the first time. He may have annoyed the people that were there by shouting first thing in the morning out of excitement.

He drove to the airport as soon as Darryl texted him, telling him that the plane was about an hour away, using the plane wifi that he payed for to message him. Zak may have gone a few miles above the speed limit to get there.

He hopped out of his car as soon as he got there, about 45 minutes later, his anxieties taking over.

He walked slowly towards the airport, smiling and frowning at the same time, nervously playing with the camera that was in his hands. He knew his fans would murder him if he didn't film their meetup, especially after maing them wait for so long. 

About halfway through the parking lot Darryl texted him again, this time telling him that the plane may be delayed by a half an hour. He groaned and started to head back to his car. Once he got back, he had an idea. He planned to do an intro to the meetup video back at his house, but why not record it right there? He may as well.

So he did. He calmed himself a bit, tried to get rid of his worries and started recording. Doing the intro, explaining what was happening. He talked for a bit, then did the classic "according to Youtube statistics, you should subscribe." He got a text from Bad about halfway through explaining what he was waiting for and smiled at the camera with a simple "He's here."

He grabbed the camera, not bothering to turn it off or stop recording, and rushed out of the car. Feeling much less anxious than before, he practically ran through the lot, giggling and whooping. He may have gotten a few odd stares, but he didn't care. He was gonna see his best friend for the first time and he was really excited.

He slowed down as soon as he got to the entrance to the gate. He hid behind a pillar, laughing to the camera. He peeked out, searching for the green eyed boy, he spotted him and his excitement tripled. He peeked the camera around the pillar and whispered to the camera, "There he is," with a giggle. He ran back and found an alternate entrance to the gate. He rushed through the airport, looking through the glass doors to see Darryl.

He found the door that Darryl stood behind and stood there. He let the camera focus on the boy and then he turned it around to look at him. The viewers would soon see his face full of pure excitement.

"I'm gonna surprise him," he whispered. He turned the camera back around and opened the door slowly and carefully. He walked through the walkway and to the door that led to the outside. He felt out a small quiet, final giggle, before keeping quiet. He opened the door, and walked out slowly. He shut the door softly and crept up behind Darryl.

Then he attacked him with a hug. Zak felt his best friend tense in shock, shrieking slightly. He calmed down once he realized who was hugging him and then freaked out again when he realized who was hugging him. The people around them looked at them awkwardly, but with understanding as many people met for the first time at airports, so it wasn't uncommon.

"Skeppy? Oh my goodness," Darryl said, still wrapped in a hug, but somehow turned around so he could hug Zak back.

"Oh my god, Bad, I, Darryl, It's actually you, I'm actually hugging you right now what the fuck, oh my gosh," Zak mumbled, the shock that he was actually with his best friend in real life finally settling in.

"Language, muffin head," the older boy said back.

"Holy shit," Zak whispered, still hugging the other tightly.

"Language!" Darryl yelled at him in a lighthearted manner. Zak finally let go of him after about two minutes, looking at him.

"Hey, muffin, look. I am taller," Darryl said quietly with a smile. Zak's smile faltered and he gave Darryl a grumpy look.

"Shut up," he spat out, looking to the ground.

"It's okay Zak, I forgive you." The boy looked up confused.

"For what?" Darryl just giggled in response.

"Maybe you should say hi to the camera idiot," Zak said, remembering that he was recording, holding up the camera.

"Hi!!" Bad said, waving at the camera.

"You got your stuff? Dream, Sap, and Harvey are all at my place until they get their cars and can go to where they're staying temporarily," Zak said, grabbing Darryl's hand and pulling him along, going to his car.

"Geppy, what're you doing?" Darryl asked, trying to pull him hand away.

"Dude, we literally just met up and you expect me to not want physical contact from you at all times possible," Zak said, looking back at him, tightening his hold.

"Really Zak?"

"Yes, I'm touch starved as fuck. I want physical contact from my bestest friend," Zak replied, giving Darryl the brightest smile he could possibly give. Darryl kinda just sighed and accepted it, but now without saying a quick, quiet "Language."

They got to his car and Darryl slipped his stuff into the back seats. Zak was practically bouncing on the spot, excitement still bubbling up inside of him. Darryl finished putting his stuff in the back, and looked at his friend, who looks like he was going to explode from excitement. He softly smiled at the boy.

"Bad, bad, bad, can we take a selfie please, please, please, please," Zak said quickly. Darryl gave him a small look, saying "are you okay???" in a single glance, before walking over to Zak's side of the car.

Zak held out his phone to take the picture, but he was shaking too much. He looked at Darryl apologetically, and Darryl grabbed his phone from him to take the picture. Darryl took the photo and handed the phone back to Zak, giving him another hug. Zak latched onto him again, grabbing onto him like his life depended on it. Zak refused to let go anytime Darryl tried to let go. It wasn't long before the shorter one was crying softly into the taller's shirt. Darryl was shocked that he was crying, forcing himself away to look at Zak.

"Are you okay? What's wrong?" Darryl asked, panicked. Zak looked at him through teary eyes.

"I'm okay, I'm okay, just seeing you, in real life, after years of being friends, I, just," he choked out, overcome by emotion. Darryl's heart melted at the sight of the boy.

"Geppy, aww," he cooed, wrapping the boy back into a hug. They stood for a few minutes as Zak calmed down.

"Zak, I think we'd better go," Darryl said softly as Zak wiped his eyes free of tears.

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea," he laughed softly, opening his door. Darryl walked around to the other side, opening the door and sitting inside the car. Zak sat, his head in his arms on the steering wheel.

"You okay?" Darryl asked.

"Yeah, I'm good, just, a bit overwhelmed," Zak said softly, peeking up from his hiding spot.

"Take as long as you need," Darryl said softly. Zak smiled at him, breathing deeply.

"K, I'm good now, we can go," Zak said a moment later, starting up the car.

"Hey, wait, I'm still recording," he said, catching a glance of the camera, quickly reaching to turn it off. Darryl laughed a bit. Zak let out a shaky breath and backed out of the parking spot.

"There are gonna be more people coming and I'm gonna have to pick them up as they arrive," Zak said, as he traversed the parking lot. Darryl let out a soft hum in response. Zak got out of the parking lot and onto the main road and smiled.

"I'm still in shock," Zak muttered quietly. Darryl looked at him.

"Why?" He asked.

"You're in my car. I've met you in real life. Like, we're together right now. It's just crazy," Zak said softly.

"It is kinda crazy if you think about it," Darryl said. "You trolled me over 2 years ago and now look at us. We're in the same car, about to move in together." Zak let out a laugh.

"Our dynamic has changed so much since then." Darryl nodded in agreement.

"Darryl," Zak whispered after a few minutes in silence. Darryl looked at him.

"Can you hold my hand. So I know you're real and I'm not hallucinating?" Darryl reached out and grabbed his shaking hand. (/p)

"Why're you shaking?" Darryl asked.

"Shock," Zak muttered. They sat another few minutes in silence until Zak spoke up again.

"Bad, can you post that selfie on twitter from my account please," he said softly. Darryl looked at him in surprise.

"But they're gonna freak out," he argued.

"If we don't just post it, they're gonna freak out even more Darryl," Zak said. Darryl looked convinced and grabbed Zak's phone.

"Zak, what's your password?" He asked quietly. Zak told him the password, putting full trust in him. Darryl opened up twitter, seeing Zak's account profile picture in the corner.

"What exactly do you want me to tweet?" He asked.

"Uh, get the photo and just say, uh, 'look who i'm with' with a smiley face," Zak said. Darryl selected the photo and typed out what Zak said and looked at him.

"Are you sure?" He asked. Zak nodded.

"Positive." Darryl shook his head and pressed the 'tweet' button. Zak smiled knowing that twitter would probably break from the amount of freaking out that would happen. Within second of the post, comments flooded in from the stans. Zak giggled as he caught sight of Darryl's freaked out face.

"Geppy, they're freaking out," Darryl said.

"You expect them not to?" Zak laughed. Darryl put Zak's phone down and pulled out his own.

He replied to Zak's tweet with a 'did you guys know that i tweeted this from skeppy's phone owo'

Zak looked at him, still very shocked that they were together.

"Bad, if you think that they're gonna freak out over a picture, how are they gonna react to us meeting for the first time at the airport," he asked.

"I forget you recorded that," Darryl said. The rest of the ride was filled with silence. Comfortable silence. Once they got to Zak's place, he started recording again. They got out of the car, and gingerly walked up to the door and opened it. They were met by the faces of Dream, Sapnap, Harvey, and...Tommy and Tubbo?


	4. 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw // swearing

Instead of celebration, Zak stood with confusion. 

“Wait, wait, when did you two get here?” Zak asked, pushing past them into the house, pulling Darryl along. 

“We got here about an hour ago. We messaged Dream to get us instead of you,” Tommy said. Zak stared at him.

“What the hell?” Zak yelled. 

“How did they get you from the airport? Especially since I was there already?” 

“Harvey and I went to get them with his car, we also got there and left as soon as we picked them up,” Clay said. 

“Wait, so you're telling me that you left after i left, because Tommy messaged you that he was there, and you got there and back before I picked up Darryl?” He stood utterly confused. 

“Hey wait, I just realized that Dream has a face,” Darryl said from behind Zak, peeking out at the group. 

“Bad!” Clay yelled, rushing over and wrapping him in a hug. Darryl laughed and hugged him back. Many more hugs went around with everyone else in the room as Zak recovered from his surprise and confusion. 

“Darryl how did Zak react to seeing you for the first time?” Clay asked, now on Zak’s couch with his friends sitting beside him. 

“He cried,” Darryl said. Zak covered his face with sweater paws and blushed. 

“Did you really?” Tommy asked. Zak sat down, still hiding his face. 

“Darryl is mean,” he muttered. 

“He didn't deny it!” Tubbo said. Tommy laughed at him. 

“Fine, I cried,” Zak said, crossing his arms. Zak turned off the camera, sensing that the rest of the time was going to be uninteresting. After the joking got around, they started talking the day away until Zak had to leave to go get both Georges. He didn't wanna leave and just wanna stay with Bad, and was quite reluctant to go pick them up until Harvey suggested that Zak take his car, which had more room in it, and pick them up with Bad. Zak’s face went from sad to very happy and excited as he pulled Darryl along with Harvey's keys.

They listened to music on the way there, Darryl playing some of his favorite songs for Skeppy and Zak playing some of his. 

Once they got there, Zak hopped out of Harvey’s car and grabbed Darryl’s hand as soon as Darryl stood next to him. 

“Geppy,” Darryl whined. 

“Darryl, do you know what it means to be touch starved?” Zak asked, walking along.

“You mentioned it earlier, but i don't know what it means.”

“It’s when you don’t really get as much physical contact from people as you should, and you feel so upset because you need physical contact as a necessity of life and you don't get any and you really want hugs and cuddles and kisses and hand holding and literally any physical contact because you are deprived of it.” Zak held tighter onto Bad’s hand through the mini speech. 

“Oh, Zak you should've told me!” Darryl said. Zak looked up at him and smiled. 

“I want cuddles when we get back,” he said. 

“Platonic cuddles,” he added. 

“We can cuddle when we get back,” Darryl said as they walked up to the entrance to the gate. They spotted the two Georges, who were talking about who knows what and rushed up to them. Geo spotted their hands and smirked slightly. 

“So Zak, Darryl,” He said. Zak looked at their hands and rolled his eyes. 

“Do you know what it's like to be touch starved? I think not bitch,” he sneered. 

“It’s platonic,” Darryl muttered. Neither of them were blushing, which confused Geo. 

“Why aren't you blushing? I thought you would be flustered?”

“Why would we be flustered by platonic hand holding? I swear to god can friends not be intimate with each other?” Zak said, obviously upset that just because he was holding his friends hand people will just assume that they were in a romantic relationship. 

Geo backed off. 

“I understand, I understand,” he said before wrapping the two in a hug. George walked up to the trio.

“Hi, Bad, Skeppy,” he said. 

“You do realize we have names, right George?” Zak said, looking at him. 

“Yeah, I just need to get out of the habit of using online names,” he said. 

“Are Clay and Nick here?” George asked. Zak looked at him strangely, and slightly offended. 

“They’re at my place currently,” Zak said slowly. George smiled. 

“I don't want to know how badly twitter is gonna freak out. Can you record it?”

“Dude, I posted a selfie of me and Bad, and I’m pretty sure there are about 5 different things trending,” Zak laughed. 

“Lets just add to that why don't we,” George said with a mischievous grin. 

“We kinda gotta get back to my place first,” Zak said, walking away from them, pulling Darryl along, still holding onto him quite tightly. The Georges grabbed their stuff and hurried along with them. 

“Wait, so you're telling me I get to see Dream, in real life, for the first time and then move in with him?” George said, trailing behind Zak and Darryl. 

“I mean yeah,” Geo said to him. George looked up at Geo, who was about 7 inches taller than him.

“How are you so goddamn tall?” 

“How are you so goddamn short?” Annoyed huffs followed their statements. 

“Can you guys not? This is your first time meeting and you're already arguing,” Zak said, looking back at them. They walked in silence to Harvey’s car, Darryl and Zak still holding hands.

They all put their suitcases in the trunk, then hopped into the backseats of the car. Like on the way there, they listened to music. Everyone jumped in with their style of music, different genres flowing within the car. 

Small talk was made throughout the ride back. George asked if Zak could record him meeting Dream for the first time, because he knew that his fans would be very mad if they didn't see. The first meeting of the dream team in full was emotional to say the least. George was crying, Clay was crying, Nick was close to crying. George clung to the two of them for a minute, shocked like Zak at the fact that they were right in front of him. Everyone was smiling all happy. These few days were, and we're going to be, emotional.


	5. 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw // swearing

Not much later, Zak did what he did with the Georges and picked up Zelk with Darryl. He, like George, made comments, which were easily brought down by the pair. They rode back quickly, Zak getting worn down by having to leave so much. When they got back to the house, Zak got inside and immediately plopped onto the somehow empty couch. Everyone seemed to be standing, on the floor, or stilling in chairs across the room. Darryl followed him and sat on the floor in front of him.

Just when they sat down, Zak got a message from Finn that he was about a half an hour away. Zak groaned and let his head fall back onto the couch, ready to get up again.

"Zak, what's wrong?" Nick asked.

"Gotta go pick up Finn," he said, starting to get out of his seat. Harvey rushed up and pushed him back down.

"I'll get him. You have been up all day, you need a break," he said, heading for the door. Zak gave him a relieved look as he walked out the door with his keys. Zak relaxed back onto the couch, very happy that he didn't need to go pick up another person. After sitting for a minute he looked at Darryl and poked the back of his head. Darryl looked back at him, annoyed, before he saw the slightly sad face of the younger one.

"What do you need Zak?" He asked, calmly. Zak stayed silent for a minute, making grabby hands at the other. Darryl stayed confused at the action, not quite understanding what he wanted. Zak rolled his eyes.

"I want cuddles," he said quietly, his hands still out. Darryl got off the floor and sat next him on the couch. With everyone's attention directed at the TV, nobody looked at the two. As soon as Darryl sat down, Zak flopped onto him. Darryl gave him a look and Zak picked himself back up. Darryl shuffled around, getting comfy before gesturing for Zak to come over to him with open arms. Zak scooted across the couch to him and fell into his arms, Darryl then wrapping his arms around the smaller boy.

Zak sighed softly, closing his eyes. Just having this much contact was making him absolutely melt. Though he was already worn down and tired, the comforting cuddles made him feel sleepy even though it was only early in the afternoon. His sleep schedule lately has been normal, though in a few weeks it would be back to terrible, so why he was feeling his way so early, he didn't know.

He pressed himself closer to him, still longing for more touch. After months of living alone, and avoiding any type of touch from his family before that, which he thoroughly regretted now, left him craving as much touch as humanly possible. The past 30 seconds alone were already supplying that need.

Darryl sensed some of the neediness and hugged him a bit tighter. He also noticed that Zak's breathing seemed to be slowing, his eyes closing softly. He knew his muffiny friend wasn't usually tired this early, especially talking to him within the past week. He pulled his touch starved friend even closer to him, trying to be that comfort that he knew he needed. It really wasn't long until the younger had fallen asleep on top of the older, snuggled calmly against him. Only then the attention of the others was brought upon them.

Clay spotted the two when he stood up to reposition himself in his chair and he made that face when you're like frowning but smiling at the same time when you see something really cute and you're like awwww and you make that one face. He let a little, "awww" leave his mouth at the adorable sight. He caught the attention of George, who was right next to him.

George kinda laughed a bit and then whispered to Dream, "I like how they can be so intimate with each other without worrying about society judging them." Dream looked at him confused.

"Where the hell did all that smartness come from and why don't you use it in manhunts?" George looked away with a sour look. Dream saying that made everyone's attention be brought to Dream and George, who peeked over to Darryl and Zak again. The others caught sight of the two and saw Zak fast asleep.

"Fuuuuck, that's adorable," Sapnap said, gaining a glare from Darryl when he heard.

"Is he asleep?" Darryl asked softly, though he was pretty sure he knew the answer already. The party nodded. Darryl smiled slightly. One of his hands started making circular motions on Zak's back and in his sleep, Zak smiled at the warm feeling he was given. The others decided to turn their attention back to the TV, but not without them all snapping a quick picture.

When Finn and Harvey got back, they immediately saw the two cuddle buddies. Finn, like the others with their first reaction, thought it was a romantic thing, but with explanations from Bad, he learned that it was purely just platonic and Zak was very worn out from having to pick everyone up.

Finn sat with everyone else and paid attention to the show they were watching. The room was filled with silence other than the sound of the television and Zak's slowed breathing.

"Hey, Skeppy's birthday is in a few days, innit?" Tommy said, breaking the silence. Smiles spread across the room.

"It is," Harvey said.

"Well what are we gonna do?" Tommy said loudly before receiving a glare from Bad as Zak stirred in his sleep with a soft, tired groan. He settled back down on Darryl's chest, still sleeping. Tommy covered his mouth.

"We're gonna start working on the house tomorrow, right? What if we let him take a break from working on his birthday?" Clay said, racking his brain for thoughts.

"We let him take a break for the day, and uh, take him somewhere nice for dinner?" George chimed in. Everyone seemed to like the idea so they settled on that one. They were also going to make it extra special because it was his first birthday with them in real life. They remained in silence with the talking on the tv until Zak woke up, respectful of their tired friend.

He woke up slowly, shifting around half conscious. He eventually sat up, still leaning against Darryl, rubbing his eyes.

"Hey," Darryl said softly. Zak looked at him and smiled.

"Hey," he whispered, his voice still groggy from sleep. Around 10 minutes later, when he was fully awake, he was conversing with the people around him. They spent the rest of the time they were awake, talking and telling stories. Everyone else went to bed, Zak staying up as he wasn't very tired.


	6. 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw // swearing

The next day was a work day. Zak took some of his friends in his car while some of them went in Harvey's car and some went in Sapnap's car, which had arrived earlier that morning. Zak led them all to the house, which was about 30 minutes away from Zak's current place. They arrived, pulling up to the curb to park. He got out, everyone following him and he presented the house to them. They all went inside, searching the house and looking it over.

Zak brought out the supplies he got and put into the new house and gave them to everyone so they could start working. He had hired workers, even though Tommy didn't want to, to work on the outside because that was to one thing they weren't sure about. The outside was already fixed and cleaned up so they could work on the inside.

They started by cleaning. They cleaned the wall, the floor, everything in the house.

They took a break to eat lunch.

"Ugh." Zak put his head down on the foldable table they put in the house.

"What's wrong bud?" Darryl asked.

"My nose is runny. It's annoying," he said, looking at him.

"Sorry Zak, probably just the time of year," Darryl said quietly. They finished their food and went back to their work. By the end of the day, returning to Zak's house, Zak's throat had begun to hurt. Nothing too bad, probably just seasonal. Right?

Zak took everyone to their hotels or places they were staying at because there was no way everyone could just stay at his house. It was too small. He had a small argument with Darryl about staying at a hotel.

Darryl was wanting to go to a hotel and Zak wanted him to stay. Zak lost and took Darryl to his hotel room begrudgingly. He said goodbye for now with a long hug that he didn't want to leave and slowly walked out of the hotel.

When Zak got home, he crashed immediately, feeling slightly sick with his runny nose and sore throat. Sleep would help. That's what he thought.

The next day was the fourteenth. Zak texted Darryl with a smiley face and a fourteen because of the day, slightly annoying the man. Though he thought sleep would help, it did not in fact. His nose was stuffed through the night, making him breath through his mouth, which made his throat dry and even more sore. He also had developed a small headache, but he decided he could deal with it. It wasn't too bad. Just sinuses or something.

They got back to work, still cleaning. They finished the cleaning that day and started on more physical stuff. They all got assigned a room to work on. Some people had to tear down walls, some had to build up walls. They removed tile and carpet and hardwood floors wanting to replace them with other things.

They returned to their temporary "homes" that night. Zak's headache had unfortunately grown and getting to sleep was hard. He got less sleep that night. Which made it worse.

So it was two days before his birthday and he felt kinda like shit. He worked through the day though, pitching in his part of the work. That night he slept well and everything seemed to be going away. He worked through the next day and he was feeling much better.


	7. 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw // swearing , harsh words

His birthday came the day after. And his little cold thing that he thought had gone, was back. It wasn't unbearable, like it had seemed to be. If he thought that was unbearable, he didn't know what was coming.

His friends let him sit back all day, letting him relax on his birthday. He was grateful for the break, hoping the rest would help him feel better. They took him out for dinner, anything he wanted, though he didn't eat too much. He went to bed, feeling rested up, only to wake up in the morning with a sore-ass throat, a killer headache, and a stuffed up nose.

Getting up was hard. He was exhausted, and his head was pounding and everything seemed to be too bright, too loud, too much. Going over to the house was also the worst. He dreaded having to work, feeling terrible.

Working throughout the day, he tried to stay focused, but he felt his temperature rising slowly. Once he realized that he might have a fever, he tried to take breaks, sitting down for more than 10 minutes at a time, closing his eyes, even just drinking some water.

Of course someone realized that he kept taking breaks, telling him to get back to work. He persisted, kept trying to take breaks, to soothe his pounding head, to let his temperature drop.

Unfortunately, he didn't really get the type of break that he wanted, because everyone grouped up and started yelling at him. Most of them, except for the sensible, nice ones, were yelling at him at least.

They were telling him he was being selfish taking breaks like that. Taking long breaks to rest, to close his eyes, to relax when he got a full day of rest yesterday. They called him selfish for trying to take care of himself.

He got back to work after that. He didn't want to be yelled at again, with an aching head. The yelling just made it so much worse. He went to bed that night, feeling no emotion. He wasn't sad, not happy. They killed his mood. He felt kind of miserable.

His fever only increased through the night. Probably because of all the stress Zak was under because of being forced to work and not being listened to.

He woke up feeling like utter shit. His head hurt, his nose was clogged, his fever increased, he was slightly nauseous, his throat hurt. Everything hurt. He was in pain. He remembered how the others had reacted the previous day at him trying to take breaks, so he knew he had to go to the house and work.

Getting out of bed was hard. He laid there, wrapped up in his blankets, tired, sick. He couldn't bring himself to getting out of bed for a solid half an hour. When he did get up, his head spun. Steadying himself on his bedside table, he grabbed his phone, looking at his contacts. He was shaky, and unsure about his skill to put his contacts in. And based on the night before, where he almost forgot to take them out, he wasn't confident enough to wear them today, so he reached for his glasses, which sat next to his contacts.

Getting dressed was hard too. He was dizzy, and kept feeling as if he was going to fall over while changing. He sat down after realizing he wasn't going to be able stand and not fall, just pulling on his clothes that way.

He was quite unsure about driving, but he brought all his attention onto the road, thinking about nothing but getting from one place to another. It worked too, he got to the house no problem, though as soon as his focus changed, his head swam and he felt like he was going to collapse. He kept going through, not wanting to be yelled at, too exhausted to be yelled at.

Walking in, people greeted him. He smiled through the pain, hoping it would just go away, just disappear. It didn't, oh well.

Tubbo walked up to him, smiling and handed him a cup.

"I made everyone hot chocolate today," he said quietly, signaling to the people behind him, all holding a cup of cocoa.

"Thanks Tubbo," Zak said, grabbing the cup. His voice sounded surprisingly fine, maybe a bit raspy, but not noticeable enough to think about it. He held the cup and allowed it to warm up his hands while he walked over to the others to hear the plan for the day. He listened quietly, slowly processing the words they were saying.

It took him a minute to understand that he was going to paint the room he wanted to be his. He grabbed the color he wanted and headed to the room that he had designated to be his, along with carrying his cup of hot chocolate. Once he got in the room, he set down what was in his hands and walked to the wall, turned around and sunk to the cloth floor in an effort to slow the spinning in his head.

He sat there, heading in his arms, for a few minutes, then gave up when he realized nothing was happening and stood back up.

He grabbed the roller they had given him and the tray and dumped some of the soft blue into the tray. He started rolling the paint along the wall, seeing the thick paint be spread evenly.

Not even ten minutes later, he had to sit down again. He grabbed a hot cup of cocoa, hoping it would help. He drank the smallest amount and gasped. The cocoa wasn't unbearably hot. It didn't burn his tongue or anything, but the creamy liquid felt like molten lava on his sore throat. The immediate contact with his throat brought tears to his eyes and he choked on the chocolate. He sat breathless, silent tears running down his face at the pain he experienced.

He knew he should've gone and told someone he was sick, but he knew they would brush it off. So he didn't. He just dealt with it. He sat until the pain faded, clearing his throat to make the grogginess go away and stood back up to start painting again. 

Halfway through the day, while the others went to pick up some lunch, everyone had emerged from their 'rooms' and were waiting in the main room. Tommy and Tubbo were playing on a ladder they had in the room, Darryl, Sapnap, and George were talking, probably about manhunt strategies. Everyone else that wasn't at the store was grouped up having a conversation.

Zak stood next to the three talking about manhunt, maybe a few feet away from them, just listening to their conversation. He leaned against the wall, closing his eyes trying to relax a bit. He didn't say anything, just stood silently, listening to the bustling noise and conversation around him, even if it triggered him, just to get his mind off how shitty he felt.

The noises really started triggering him, and he unknowingly felt like falling into a panic attack. His head spun and again, everything felt like too much. He was overwhelmed. He let his head fall back and rest on the wall, breathing heavily. Not even a minute later, he heard a harsh scream, snapping his eyes open, and sank to the floor, too overwhelmed to do anything else.

He saw Tubbo on the floor, Tommy hovering over Tubbo with a concerned look and everyone rushing over to him. He stayed sitting against the wall, head in his arms once again and just listening to find out what happened. He heard voices of concern, saying soft affirmations to Tubbo, Zak finding out the boy had injured himself on the ladder. He heard shuffling and footstep as they helped the boy stand and assessed the scaping on his knee and his hands.

He peeked up, seeing them wipe off (a minimal amount) blood on Tubbo's knee and hands and giving him some bandaids. Zelk caught a glance of Zak and Zak saw a flash of anger appear in his eyes.

"Zak!" Zelk yelled, walking over to the boy. Zak winced.

"What the hell are you doing?" Zelk said, kneeling down to be eye level with Zak. Somehow he didn't see how sick Zak looked.

"You got a full day of rest, took so many unnecessary breaks yesterday and now decide to take another break when Tubbo gets hurt, a break that Tubbo could need," he spat, raw anger put into his words.

"Gonna have to agree with him Zak, sorry," Sapnap said, with Finn and Harvey nodding a bit from behind him.

"Tubbo is fuckin hurt right now and you're taking a break?" Tommy said, angry. Thoughts flashed through Zak's head. Thoughts.

"You're being selfish. You're taking so many time outs, while we have been working our asses off. Zak, you need team spirit. You're usually so full of it, why has it gone away?" Finn asked. Zak put his head back in his arms, facing the floor.

"Don't be a pussy Skeppy," Tommy said, and though he said it somewhat sarcastically, Zak was too sick and out of it to understand what he was trying to convey. Zak shook his head, trying to just tell them silently that now was not the time, letting out a gentle cough. Great yeah, now he had a cough.

"Just sit there, yeah," Sapnap said, his voice now gaining the anger of the others. He heard them stalk away, turning their attention back to Tubbo and heard the door open and smelled pizza. With everyone looking away, Zak stood up and slipped out of the room, and into the hallways, heading towards the balcony on the second floor of the house. He slipped outside, taking a deep breath, then let out a cough. Harsher than earlier but not harsh enough to rattle him.

He sat on the floor of the balcony, taking deep breaths to calm himself, but it did nothing and he felt tears drip down his cheeks.

They didn't care. He thought they did.

He was sick. He had a fever and a cough and sore throat and a headache and a stuffy nose. Not to mention the smell of the pizza made him extremely nauseous. He got no attention and was yelled at because he lacked team spirit.

Tubbo fell. He scraped his knee and his hands. He gets all the attention and Zak gets yelled at for 'not caring that he got hurt.'

He did care. Tubbo was hurt and he felt bad, as anyone does. He was just overwhelmed and couldn't handle it.

He coughed again, the coughs now gaining a harsh, brittly sound. He lowered himself lower to the ground, so he was laying down and looked at the cloud covered sky. Middle of January and it was cold. It felt nice on his feverish skin, but soon it got too cold and he slipped back inside and into his room, paining again, not bothering to eat lunch.

Half an hour later, Darryl peeked his head in the room, trying to find the boy, spotting him painting the east lying side of the room.

"Hey, are you gonna eat?" He asked softly, gaining a jump from the boy. Zak slowly shook his head.

"Not hungry," he murmured. Darryl looked at him in concern then slowly walked away, out of the room. Zak continued to work, overworking himself through the day.


	8. 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw // swearing

That night was terrible. He had a ridiculous fever dream halfway through the night, though it was half a fever dream, half a...night terror. Worse than a nightmare. If you've had a night terror, you know how goddamn terrifying they can be. This dream was pretty much just bizarre, and weird, but terrifying at the same time.

The next day was worse. Somehow, he was even dizzier than before, and everything that seemed hard the previous day, seemed a million times harder. With the dangerous mindset that he gained yesterday, that they didn't care and just wanted him to work, he got to the house and immediately finished painting what he didn't finish. Once he had finished that, he went shakily into the main room, which was now filled with cardboard boxes from Ikea.

He grabbed the boxes in his section of the room and quickly brought them to his room, hoping to avoid the others. He succeeded and got to his room quietly, with all of the stuff. He pushed through the weight of it by dragging the pile across the floor.

He got the basic supplies from the room too, rushing out quickly to grab the stuff, not even bothering to say hello.

He opened a box and brought out everything, trying to read the instructions, but not succeeding very well. He was starting to experience delirium and the mildest level of hallucinations. His comprehension skills were definitely not even close to par with his sickness, so trying to assemble an Ikea furniture product was lowest on the list of tasks he could do.

After reading the instructions about ten times over and not comprehending a single word of them, he slipped out of the room, and back to the balcony he had been on the day previous. He sat on the ground, his feverishly hot skin being met with the crisp, cold winter air of outside. He was thrown into a slight coughing fit, wincing at the initial start of it. He stayed out there for an hour, letting the cold seep into his skin, hoping it would cool him down, but to his bleary disappointment, it did not.

He returned back inside, hoping to avoid everyone, entering silently without them knowing he took a break. His wishes were broken as he was approached by Nick, halfway in the hallway.

"Hey, Zak, where were you the past 45 minutes?" He asked. Zak winced.

"I was taking a break," he said quietly.

"I see," Sap said, letting a mocking tone into his voice, turning and walking away. Zak let out a breath as soon as he was gone, quickly walking to his room. Once he got there, he let out another cough before sitting on the floor with the instructions next to him.

3 hours later, he had half of a bed frame built and felt so mentally drained, he was laying on the floor with his eyes squished shut. After another break, he sat back up and got back to work.

When lunchtime had come, he grabbed the sandwich he had asked for and escaped to the balcony, which seemed to be his safe space at the moment. The shock of the cold air, once again sent him into a fit of coughs, almost dropping his sandwich.

He sat, eating his turkey sandwich slowly. He noticed that his coughing fits seemed to happen more regularly, continuing to get progressively worse. He took his time, not wanting to hurt his throat more than it was already. Then he went back to work. By the end of the day he had finished the bed frame and moved it to a corner of the room.

When he was done with it he, once again, escaped to the balcony. The cold air wasn't doing anything for him, and it seemed to make his temperature rise.

The pattern of trying his hardest to work, escaping to the balcony and going home repeated everyday for about a week. His sick symptoms continued increasing everyday, his delirium skyrocketing at the end of the week, on friday.

Friday, he called an uber to get him to the new house, not trusting himself enough to drive. He stumbled into the house, having to steady himself against the outside wall before he could open the door. He ignored everyone as he guided himself to his room. When he got there he sat against the wall, the spinning of the world making him feel nauseous.

He tried extremely hard to get stuff done, but it was too much, so he went to the balcony. He laid there for a while, watching the clouds spin until he decided to look over the balcony railings. He steadied himself, leaning against the railing, looking over the landscape, seeing the city not far away.

He was hit with a coughing fit and he staggered away from the railing. The fit seemed to be worse than the others and he doubled over, letting the harsh coughs rip through him. He couldn't seem to stop, every pause in between was occupied with gasps for breath. He stumbled over to his water bottle that he brought with him, reaching for it to see if it could help, but before he could get to it, he felt a sharp pain shoot up his side and he gasped. He grabbed the water bottle and gulped down as much as he needed, the coughs finally subsiding. The pain in his side did not retreat and he lifted his shirt to look at his side, trying to see if he could tell what happened, but the skin just appeared redder than usual. He shook off the pain, assuming it was just the sickness, or his delirium messing with him, and went back to work.

Returning home with an uber and going straight to bed felt like heaven, but in the morning, waking up felt like hell. He looked at his side and saw bruising where the pain was and confusion overtook him.

"The hell?" He whispered, delirium and sleep making his words slur. He touched the bruises and winced. He looked away, taking a breath and pulled on a new shirt. He stood up from his bed, wincing at the pain he felt. His head spun, like the day before and gray creeped up on his vision, but he ignored it. He did his morning routine, brushing his teeth, fixing his hair before starting to head downstairs. He stood at the top of the stairs, steadying himself to go down when he grey in his vision quickly turned to black and he felt his ears get cold and then everything turned to darkness.


	9. 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw // swearing

Black, and then pain. The black faded for him to see him lying on the ground, now at the bottom of the stairs with insane pain running up both sides. Tears ran down his face and he gripped his sides, trying to wait for the pain to fade with no avail. After ten minutes of crying, laying on the ground, he got up and told himself to suck it up and called an uber.

He got there, very much so in pain, and went to his room, ready to assemble the final furniture piece. He started, working as hard as he could to just finish, so he could go home and let go and relax and get better. His hands shook and he had to take breaks every few minutes. He heard cheers from outside his room and went to open the door to look. He heard chatter and brushed it off and went back to work, very close to done with the shelf.

"Zak are you done?" The door opened and he felt footsteps of people rushing into his room.

"Not, not yet," he said, trying to steady his voice.

"Hurry, hurry," Tubbo said. Zak turned back to his shelf, quickly putting the screws in their places. He reached for the last screw, his hands shaking beyond control. He tried to put the screw in its place but kept failing, over and over. When he finally got it in, he tried to tighten it, but that seemed harder than just leaving it.

Annoyed, Jake grabbed the screwdriver, easily connecting the tip to the screw and tightening it, along with the final few that Zak just couldn't seem to do. Zak shakily moved over so Zelk could work. The room spinning, his eyes blurring. He knows he's not gonna last until the end of the day. The only thing he could hope is that they finished quickly and he can get home.

Spitting out annoyed words at Zak, Jacob finished the shelf. Zak flinched at the words and the memory of his fever dreams. He didn't want that to become a reality, but by the second he was becoming more and more delirious, trying to keep his delirium onder control. The delirium was making him believe that Zelk was gonna just chuck to screwdriver at him, so he tried to stay as far away from Jacob as possible.

Jacob put the screwdriver down silently and turned to look at the group that stood behind him.

"We're done," he said. Small cheers erupted from the crowd. Zak let out a relieved sigh.

"We're done?" A soft voice spoke out. Jacob turned to Zak with a glare.

"Yes Zak, we are done, no thanks to you," he spat out, venom dripping from his lips.

Zak, knowing that they were done, no more work or anything, let himself go a bit. He really couldn't control it, it seemed like his body gave up trying to hide the illness and forced him to stop. His mind forced him to let go of everything, more than he would have liked.

Zak's eyes turned distant and unfocused as he quietly whispered to himself, "We're done, we're done, we're done, all done, done, we're done, all finished." Darryl sensed that something was off, seriously off, and approached him. Zak stood swaying on the spot.

"Hey, hey, look at me," Darryl said quietly. Zak looked at him through blurry eyes.

"Hi!" he said, paling more by the second.

"Are you alright?" Darryl asked. Zak tried to focus his eyes on Darryl, his eyes betraying him and becoming more unfocused. His ears rang and focusing on what Darryl was saying was seeming like an impossible challenge that he couldn't beat.

"Am i alright? Yeah, I'm cool, I'm fine, I'm great actually, I'm..."


	10. 9

The thought was left unfinished as Zak’s eyes rolled back in his head, eyelids fluttering shut, Zak collapsing.

Darryl gasped and lunged to catch him before he could hit the ground, some of the other people in the room leaning forward to try to help. 

Darryl gently eased Zak to the ground, reaching forward to support his head and make sure he didn't get hurt, when he felt the amount of heat radiating off of him. His eyes widened in shock and concern and he made Zak lay down. To make sure he touched his hand to his neck, then pulling away immediately due to the heat radiating off of him. He looked back at the group, looking scared. 

“Does anyone have a thermometer?” He asked, striking panic into everyone. Clay quickly rushed over to Zak, placing the back of his hand on his cheek. 

“Shit, why?” Harvey asked quickly. 

“He feels dangerously warm,” Clay answered for Darryl. 

“He really can't be that bad right?” Tommy said, approaching Dream and Darryl. Tommy put his hand on Zak’s forehead, then quickly rushed back to the group. 

“Nevermind it is that bad,” he said quickly. 

“Harvey and Finn, can you guys go get a thermometer?” Clay said, taking charge. The two boys rushed out of the room.

“On it,” Harvey yelled as they left. 

“George, Nick, and other George can you guys go to Zak’s apartment and get his stuff? We were gonna bring everyone’s stuff here tomorrow, but it seems that Zak won't be able to, and he’s probably gonna have to stay here for the night,” Clay said. 

“Uh, yeah sure,” George said, before pulling Sapnap along.

“I’m driving!” they heard from the hall.

“You dumbass! Of course you're driving. I can’t drive!” George yelled back, clearly mad. A sigh from the other George was heard. 

“Hey Dream, can you help me get Zak to the couch please?” Darryl asked quietly, drawing Clay’s attention back to the immediate issue. 

“Yeah, yeah i'll help,” Clay said. They started to lift him, when Zak gasped and his face morphed into pain, coming back to consciousness. Tears pricked at his eyes as he tried to focus on the people around him and not the pain flaring in his chest. He tried to scramble to his feet in the midst of his delirious panic. 

“Hey, Zak, chill,” Darryl said, reaching for him and pulling him back to the ground. 

“No no, I gotta get back to work, i gotta do more or they’ll be mad at me,” he said, his words slurred and rushed.

“Who?” Clay asked softly.

“Zelk’s is mad at me and Finn was mad, and and and, Sapnap and George, and Tommy was mad at me when Tubbo got hurt. Oh Tubbos hurt I gotta do something for him. His injuries are more important than mine. I gotta make sure he’s okay. They care about him more than me. They don't care about me. Oh I need to work, i've been taking a break for too long, they're gonna be mad,” he rambled on. Hearts broke as they heard the words he spoke. The people in the room looked down, filled with guilt and Tubbo looked at Tommy sadly. 

Zak tried to force his way up from the ground, but hands gently yet forcefully pushed him down. 

“Zak, there is no more work you need to do, it's all done,” Darryl reassured him. 

“What?” Zak whispered, his voice only above a mere whisper. Darryl’s concern deepened. 

“Yeah, we finished a few minutes ago, remember?” He said. Zak giggled. 

“Oh yeah,” he said, dragging on the syllables. Zak let his head roll around, feeling very exhausted and terrible. Through his blurry eyes, he caught glance of Jake, Tommy and Tubbo and he felt a panic go through him. 

“Oh no oh no oh no,” he said, tears returning as he sat up and had to lean against Darryl to keep him upright. 

“They’re here, they’re mad, oh god, please don't yell at me, no more please. I know you don't care about me but please just leave me alone,” he cried, directing his eyes in the general direction of the group, putting his hands over his ears. Though the others would say they’re tough and hardcore, guilt ripped through them at the sight of their poor friend on the floor, begging for them to stop doing something they weren’t doing. 

Jacob stepped forward and over toward him, letting tears shine in his eyes.

“Zak, hey, I’m not mad, I’m not gonna yell at you, I swear on my life,” he said, kneeling on the ground. Zak focused on him as best as he could, though he could feel himself becoming weaker by the second. 

“But you’re mad, I'm not working, I've got no team spirit. Please don't yell at me. I'm lazy and Tubbo’s hurt and I didn’t care and you were mad and now you don't care about me. Just don’t hurt me please,” Zak sobbed. Jake was hurt by the words Zak said. Especially Zak assuming he would hurt him. 

Why would he think this? Well, the nightmares and night terrors only got worse as his sickness progressed, so while going home and getting to sleep felt like heaven, he would always wake up due to fever induced nightmares. At first the nightmares were just weird fever dreams but then, when his friends started to get mad at him, they got worse. They progressed from weird to anxiety inducing to absolutely terrifying. That made getting to sleep hard and staying asleep even harder. 

The recent nightmares of that week were the worst of the group. His dreams were filled with his friends getting mad at him again and then, they would hurt him. Zak knew they wouldn’t actually do it, but they just felt so real, so so real. Any form of abuse you could think of, he dreamt they did it to him. He even dreamt of Bad joining in, even though throughout all this, Bad didn't participate in any yelling and he definitely wasn't mad at him and he knew Bad wouldn't even start to think about hurting him purposefully. But now, it was messing with his head, messing with his delirium, messing with him. 

“Zak I would never hurt you. I wouldn't even think about it. Zak, I really do care about you, and I'm sorry that we made you feel that way,” Jake said quietly. Zak continued sobbing, the poor boy on the verge of collapse again. Darryl pulled him back down to the ground again, holding him in place so he wouldn't try to get back up again. 

“No no no no, please don't hurt me please. Let go of me please, no please,” Zak said, struggling against Darryl. 

“Zak, Zak, listen I need you to calm down. I'm not going to hurt you, I promise. I just need you to chill,” Darryl whispered to him, along with other comforting things, calming him down. Zak stopped crying, still upset, but calmer than before. Darryl let go of him.

Zak started to let his eyes flutter shut again. 

“Oh no no no, Zak. No closing your eyes ok? If you pass out again, we may have to take you to the hospital,” Clay chimed in from beside Darryl. Zak opened his eyes again and whined. 

“But I’m so tired,” he whined. Darryl looked past the paleness of his skin and how sick he looked and just looked how exhausted he was. 

“I would let him go, Bad. He overworked himself when he was possibly extremely sick and who knows how much sleep he’s gotten recently,” Jake chimed in, back with Tommy and Tubbo. Zak tiredly looked up at Darryl with pleading eyes. Darryl sighed. 

“How about we go to the couch so you're more comfy,” he said softly. Zak, though delirious, nodded. Darryl stood up and reached his hand out for Zak to take. Zak didn't bother putting a hand up and just let his head relax. Darryl knelt back down and slipped his arms under Zak’s knees and neck and picked him up bridal style. Zak burrowed his head into Darryl’s shirt as he walked to the couch, trembling. In about the 30 seconds they were moving, Zak had slipped back into unconsciousness.


	11. 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw // swearing , emeto (throw up)

Darryl set him down softly onto the couch. The others walked into the room soon after and Tubbo approached Darryl.

"Is he, Is he gonna be okay?" He asked, his voice cracking.

"He'll be fine Tubbo. This is Skeppy we're talking about!" Tommy said to Tubbo, walking up next to him and laying a hand on his shoulder. Immediately after his statement, a harsh cough ripped through Zak's body, very obviously painful to Zak, as he groaned subconsciously.

"He will be okay, right Bad?" Tommy said, his voice faltering. Darryl nodded.

"Yeah, he's gonna be okay." Darryl sat next to Zak on the couch and ran his fingers through his damp sweaty hair. Every few minutes a cough would emit from Zak, with groans of pain following after.

Soon, Finn and Harvey returned, running through the door carrying a bag.

"Hi, we're back," Harvey said, looking at Zak on the couch. Darryl stood up and grabbed the thermometer. Opening the package, he looked back at Zak, who looked like he was in a lot of pain. With a pitying look, he got the thermometer out of the packaging and walked back over to Zak and propped him up against him so he was upright. Zak groaned, eyes glazed and hooded as he opened them a bit. He was dizzy and unable to comprehend anything but simple commands.

"Hey bud, can we take your temperature please?" Darryl asked softly. Zak didn't respond and just leaned his weight on Bad. Darryl sighed.

"Can you please open your mouth? It's really important," he whispered. Zak reluctantly opened his mouth a bit and Darryl slipped the thermometer under his tongue. As the thermometer was taking his temperature, Zak gagged, maybe from the feeling of it or maybe because he was feeling very nauseous. Darryl looked at him sadly.

"A few more seconds okay?" he said, reassuring him that it would be done soon. He watched the numbers on the thermometer slowly rise from the temperature it had been before in the package to the temperature that Zak was feeling. (It's in Fahrenheit, but conversions to Celsius will be provided.)

88.9...90.4...94.3...97.1...98.5. (31.6...32.4...34.6...36.6...37)

Darryl hoped it would stop around 98.5, normal temperature, but it kept rising.

99.6...100.8...101.4..102.7. (37.5...38.2...38.5...39.2)

The numbers stopped rising and Darryl stared at the high number.

"102.7..." he read off. Clay and Jacob, being the only ones to understand in the room, were filled with concern.

"Wait I'm stupid. What's that in celsius?" Tommy asked. Clay whipped out his phone and did a quick conversion.

"About 39 degrees celsius," he said for the europeans people there.

"Oh," Tommy whispered, "That's high." Darryl looked at Zak, who was so very out of it. Maybe for too long because Zak gagged again, this time Darryl knew not from the thermometer and quickly rushed up from his seat. He grabbed Zak's arm and fast but gently pulled him up and rushed him to the bathroom. Zak gathered a look of his surroundings, feeling more and more nauseous. He groaned and swayed on his feet.

"Darryl?" He asked, looking at Bad. Or maybe just looking in the general direction.

"Hey," Darryl said, letting him know he was there.

"Darryl I don't feel good," Zak said, tears gathering in his eyes. Darryl, wrapped the boy in a hug, steadying him and rubbing his back.

"I know Zak. Do what you gotta do," he said. Zak let out a whimper.

"Bad, I don't wanna throw up," he said, tears now freely running down his face.

"Zak, you're going to feel soooo much better if you just let it out," Darryl said. Zak groaned.

"I don't want to. I've done it, I've, I've done it too, too much already," he whined, referencing the times not mentioned when he woke up in the middle of the night, escaping to the bathroom to spew up his stomach. Darryl looked at him pitifully as another wave of nausea overcame him. He gagged again and slowly lowered himself to the floor, unable to stay standing. Darryl knelt next to him.

"Zak, I know you really don't want to, but it's the best option right now. If you don't just let it out and keep it all in you're gonna feel so much worse," he said. Zak looked at him, his eyes dazed. He gagged yet again, grabbing his stomach and rocking on the floor. Darryl turned him so that he was looking at the toilet.

"C'mon Zak, you know you need too," Darryl encouraged, pushing him closer to the toilet. Zak covered his mouth, not willing to let himself vomit. Another, stronger, wave of nausea overtook him, his gag reflex coming into action again.

"At least put your head over the bowl in case you do throw up," Darryl said, being smart. Zak obliged, understanding, just barely, what he was saying to do. Zak started to retch, very obviously not feeling well.

Zak started coughing again, something he just couldn't seem to stop doing. Coughing is literally the worst thing you could do when you're about to throw up. He continued coughing until the cough turned into a gag. Zak's eyes widened as an unpleasant feeling came over him. Something began to rise in his throat and he leaned over the toilet.

"Oh no, please," he moaned, before literally doing the opposite of what he wanted. Darryl winced at the sight and sound of his best friend spewing out his guts. 30 seconds later Zak pulled away and looked at Bad sadly, almost sobbing from the pain that throwing up gave him. He let out a few sad whimpers before leaning over the bowl again, his breakfast coming back up again.

Darryl leapt over to him when he saw his eyes glaze over and caught him before he dropped. No he didn't pass out again, though he was close, only merely 'graying out' per se. Going half conscious. Being in between awake and out cold.

"Bad," he said with a shudder. Darryl hummed.

"Mmmmm," Zak whined. Darryl took that as a sign that he was gonna be sick again and leaned him back towards the toilet. Zak shook his head.

" 'm done," he muttered, closing his eyes.

"You sure?" Darryl said suspiciously. Zak nodded vigorously, which resulted in him getting nauseous again and leaning over the bowl.

"Nevermind," Darryl said, looking away. Darryl knew that he was actually done, for now at least, when he just started spitting up bile and spit. Darryl flushed the toilet and grabbed a washcloth, wiping Zak's face for him. He grabbed Zak's arms and gently pulled him up so he was standing and gave him a toothbrush.

"Extra toothbrush. Now brush your teeth," Darryl said. Zak stood dazed staring off into space.

"Huh?" He asked.

"Oh my goodness, you really are super sick," Darryl said with concern.

"I'm not that sick," Zak insisted with a lopsided smile. Darryl raised an eyebrow.

"You just spewed up your guts and have a fever almost high enough to need medical attention. You were also sobbing on the floor a minute ago and now you're smiling at me like a drunk person. You are extremely sick," he said.

"Oh yeah," Zak said, his delirium coming back as he giggled. His happy smiley face turned into a sad, distasteful one.

"My mouth tastes bad," he said.

"Well maybe you should brush your teeth!" Darryl said. Zak's face lit up.

"Oh yeah, good idea," he said before brushing his teeth. He finished and spit out the toothpaste, but gave another disgusted look.

"It still taste bad," he said, frowning.

"Lemme go get you some water," Darryl said before exiting the bathroom. Zak trailed along, looking like a drugged lost puppy. Walking past the living room where everyone else was, they heard quietly whispers. Not gossipping whispers, but whispers of concern. They couldn't seem to bring their voices above a whisper, maybe out of respect that Zak may have a headache or something. He did but they didn't know that.

Darryl got out a glass and filled it with water, handing it to Zak, who downed it, but hesitantly, and with help from Darryl.

"How you feeling, Zak?" Clay asked, calling from the couch. Darryl glared at Clay.

"Like shit!" Zak called back, not thinking, then hashly coughing, his face paling from the white hot pain that shot through him from the cough roughly affecting his ribs. Darryl was too panicked by the coughing fit to say 'language.' Zak doubled over in pain, and because of the couching fit and Darryl put his arms around him to support him. Zak's couches faded and he stood breathless and dazed by pain.

"Dar, it hurts," he said, his voice strained, tears yet again running down his face. Darryl wrapped the sick boy in a hug.

"Why don't we run you a bath to lower your temperature a bit, yeah?" Darryl said after feeling the heat radiating from his skin. Zak nodded, trying to breathe normally but the cough and his ribs leaving him with a wheeze. Darryl helped him move to the living room, hands supporting him as he clutched his chest, groaning in pain. Harvey moved over on the couch to make room for Zak to sit down.

"What the hell Harvey!" Finn yelled, getting squashed between Harvey and Clay. Zak winced and his hands shot from his chest to his ears. Finn paled and jumped up from the couch.

"Oh fuck, no I'm sorry," he said, rushing over to Zak, dodging the people on the floor. Zak dropped his arms so they were at his side.

"Oh it's fine," He said, with a loopy smile.

"Alright mister, you're getting delirious again, it's time for a bath to cool you down," Darryl said, forcing Zak to sit on the open spot on the couch. Zak brought his legs onto the couch and leaned onto the armrest, shivering.

"Tommy, Tubbo, can you go start a bath please?" Darryl asked, worried what would happen if he left the room. They may not have wanted too, but they did, driven by concern, they headed to the bathroom.

"Tommy what do we do?" Tubbo said, looking at the bathtub.

"Why the hell do you think I know?!" Tommy said, raising his voice.

"Tommy, I feel so guilty," Tubbo said, his voice quiet, looking at the ground.

"Why? What's wrong?" Tommy asked.

"I, just, uh...When Zak was on the floor and rambling on, he like, said that he needed to do something for me. Because he apparently didn't care. When i got hurt, i'm pretty sure he did care, he was just overwhelmed or something. They yelled at him for it. He was sick and tired and they yelled at him for it," Tubbo said, tears gathering in his eyes. Tommy wrapped him in a hug.

"It's really not your fault Toby. Promise," Tommy said.

"Look, we can make it up to him by running this bath, k?" Tommy said. Tubbo wiped his tears and looked up at Tommy.

"Yeah, yeah.." he muttered.

"Oh! What if we make the bath cold so it puts his temperature down better and faster!" Tubbo said, regaining his excited and happy regime.

"Ooh, good idea," Tommy said, reaching for the handle and turning it so cold water flowed out.

Tommy and Tubbo walked back out of the bathroom as soon as the tub had filled up.

"Bad! We turned on the water!" Tommy called from the hall, walking from the bathroom. Darryl looked up from where he was sitting next to Zak.

"C'mon Zak, let's get you to the bathroom," Darryl said softly. Zak groaned, opening his eyes. Darryl grabbed onto his arms, hoisting him up. Zak walked with him shakily, having to lean onto him so he wouldn't collapse. Jude stood up, following the pair.


	12. 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw // swearing

"Ooh, Bad, you're lucky Zak banned Vurb," he said. Darryl looked back at him with a confused look.

"What?"

"You're gonna bathe Zak. Like, yknow," Finn said, with a sly smile. Contrary to popular belief, Darryl didn't blush. In fact he rolled his eyes.

"You guys are too hung up on Skephalo. I hate to break it to you but, it's not happening," Darryl said, turning his attention back to Zak.

"I was also just gonna put him in the water in his clothes too. It's not like I'm gonna actually clean him or anything," Darryl said, heading to the bathroom.

"We also don't even have any toiletries here yet. I couldn't if I tried."

Finn gave a soft smile, understanding.

"If it makes you uncomfortable, I can always tell Vurb he needs to stop, we will k?" Finn said. Darryl nodded. Finn calmly walked out of the room and back to the living room.

Zak, seeing that he was back in the bathroom, looked at Darryl.

" 'm done, Bad. Why're we here," he said, his words just a mess of slurred sounds that were somehow still understandable.

"Oh, no Zak, i know you're done throwing up, but you're gonna take a bath to cool you down, that's why we're here," he said calmly. Zak's eyes widened.

"Wait, please no," he said quickly. The next words he spoke were slurred...things? and random sounds.

"Zak, we gotta do it to lower your temperature," Darryl said.

"But, but, I'm so cold. Im freezing. 'M not hot, i feel cold, not hot," he said, the only understandable word that he spoke for about 5 minutes.

"Zak," Darryl said, trying to calm the boy. He stopped rambling for a second to hear what Bad had to say.

"If you don't just do it, your temperature won't go down. That could be dangerous," Darryl said calmly. Zak backed into the corner of the room, rambling again, begging not to be put in the bath. Darryl sighed and walked out of the bathroom.

"Can you guys help me," he said, walking into the living room. Clay stood up, along with Tubbo, who convinced Tommy to come too. They walked in to Zak sobbing on the floor, pleading to not be put into the water. Darryl looked at him sadly.

"Zak, I'm sorry, I know you don't want to but you have to," he said. Zak shook his head. Darryl opened his arms to the boy. Zak saw the open arms and stood up, rushing into the hug. Darryl frowned at the heat. He took advantage of the fact that Zak was standing and slowly walked to the bathtub, still wrapped in the hug. Darryl let go of Zak.

"Zak," he said quietly. Zak looked at him through tears. Darryl lifted Zak up and over the edge of the bathtub and Zak looked down in shock as the water touched his legs.

He started pleading again for Darryl to take him out of the water, saying he was freezing and he didn't need his temperature to drop. Darryl had gotten him in the bath, but getting him to sit down he could not do. Clay walked up to the shivering Zak.

"Hey buddy, can you sit down please?" Clay said softly. Zak shook his head. Clay gently put his hand on Zak's shoulder, pushing him down slightly. Zak, exhausted and weak, was unable to fight against the gentle touch and let himself sink down into the water, but not without sobbing and begging. He sat just sitting in the water, his cries slowly decreasing.

Fiveish minutes later, his tears stopped and he kinda just sat there calmly. Darryl shooed away the other so that Zak could relax and cool down. What Darryl didn't know is that Zak wasn't relaxing. The ice cold water from the bath was doing nothing to help his fever. In fact, it was making it worse. Taking an ice cold or a steaming hot bath with a fever will only make your fever worse as it will shock your system and make the temperature rise. (Please don't take a cold bath with a fever k?)

Darryl sat, watching the boy in the tub, seeing him shiver. Every once in a while, Zak would let out nonsense mumblings, trying to express to Darryl that he was freezing, but his caretaker not understanding.

After about 15 minutes, Darryl held a hand out to the boy, ready to let him out. Zak grabbed the hand, shaking. Darryl, as he was helping him out, brushed his hand against Zak's soaked clothes and his blood ran cold. He hurried the boy out of the bath and wrapped him up in a towel, trying to do the opposite of what he was aiming for, warm him up.

"Tommy! Tubbo!" He called hurriedly. The boys heard the urgency in his voice and came running. Clay, Harvey, Finn and Jacob all came running after them.

"Did you guys run the bath cold?" He asked cautiously. Tommy gave a confused look.

"Yeah, we thought it would help lower his temperature faster," Tommy said. Darryl paled.

"What the Muffin!" he yelled, his voice about 3 octaves higher. Tommy and Tubbo looked at him and panicked.

"What?! What's wrong?!" Tommy yelled back.

"You're never supposed to put someone with a fever in a cold bath! It'll only make the fever worse!" Darryl said, panicking. Tommy and Tubbo paled.

"Wait, it makes it worse?!" Tubbo yelled. Everyone heard soft groans from the bathroom and peeked inside to see Zak, shivering in wet clothes, his hands over his ears. Darryl rushed over to him, rushing him into a towel.

"We need his clothes," he said, then menatally facepalming.

"They're not back yet!" he said, Clay rushing over to the two of them.

"I have some extra clothes in my car. They're gonna be big on him, but he can use them," he said. Darryl nodded and Clay ran out the door to his car.

"Zak, do you think you can get changed by yourself?" Darryl asked calmly as Tommy led Tubbo away to comfort him. Zak just stood unresponsive, staring blankly into the distance.

"Fudgemuffins," Darryl whispered, on edge of, for once, cursing. Could you blame him? He was worried and his muffiny words were not expressing the amount of concern and panic he was feeling. Clay rushed back into the house, handing Darryl sweatpants, a shirt and a pair of boxers. 

"I also have a smile hoodie, if that's okay," he said, handing over the lime green hoodie. Darryl gave him a very grateful smile.

"Thanks Clay, I owe you," he said before turning over to Zak.

"Zak," he whispered, shaking him softly. Zak shuddered and looked at him.

"Do you think you can get changed by yourself?" Darryl said. Zak slowly shook his head, as if he didn't understand what Darryl was asking him. Darryl looked at him sadly.

"We're gonna take your temperature in a bit. I really hope it didn't rise," he said softly, leading Zak back into the bathroom, closing the door. Looking away, out of respect, he pulled Zak's sopping wet shirt over his head, then pulled off his shorts, helping him step out of them. He handed Zak the extra pair of boxers, hopping he understood, then turned around. Zak, even delirious, was smart enough to know what Darryl was trying to express and changed out of the cold underwear. He put a hand on Darryl's shoulder to signal that he was done and to steady himself as he shook.

Darryl turned back around, looking at the ceiling. He brought out the sweatpants, and helped him slip into the too-big pants. He did the same with the shirt. He silently thanked Dream again when he felt how soft the clothes were, perfect for a sick day. He eyed the hoodie, departing whether or not he wanted to put it on him. Zak caught a glance at the hoodie and reached for it. Darryl grabbed it first and slipped it over his head. Zak sighed, still shivering.

"Darryl?" He muttered. Darryl looked at him in concern, putting a hand on his forehead to get an idea of his temperature, then wincing at the heat.

" 'm sorry," Zak mumbled.

"Why?" Darryl asked, leading Zak out of the bathroom.

"I didn't do m best work with the stuff. 'M sorry," Zak murmured.

"Zak, you dunderhead, there is no need to apologize. You were, and are, sick. I don't expect you to do perfect work," Darryl said calmingly. Zak grabbed his arm and laid a head on it as they walked. They arrived in the living room and Zak immediately headed for the couch, which was all empty.He plopped down on the couch and curled up in a ball.


	13. 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw // swearing , low-key probably medical inaccuracy but I'm nowhere near a doctor so whatever

"Zak, I gotta take your temperature again," Darryl whispered, walking past the friends that were on the floor, carrying a thermometer. He slipped the thermometer through Zak's lips and held it there, as Zak was quite unable to hold it there by himself. Zak let out another sigh, his hot breath hitting Darryl's hand, Darryl's concern, once again, deepening, at the warmth of it.

The thermometer beeped and Darryl pulled it out of his mouth to check what the digital screen read. He paled significantly.

"Fuck."

The apparent "level 10" swear, slipped from his lips, unable to be left inside as all his concern and panic bubbled over at the high number. The people in the room looked at Bad in shock. The "all-innocent-muffin-of-the-century-who-would-never-ever-swear-ever" had let a word slip. Of course, with the situation, it was understandable, but still shocking.

The word struck a panic in people. How bad did the fever have to be to make BadBoyHalo swear.

"Darryl, darryl, what's wrong, what's his temperature," Clay said, standing up to look at the temperature.

"We need to take him to the doctors, or something," Darryl said, turning to look at the other people in the room.

"Darryl. What. Is. His. Temperature?" Harvey asked.

"Too high," Darryl said.

"Oh my god, Bad, just answer the damn question!" Tommy yelled.

"105.2," Darryl whispered, barely loud enough for the people in the room to hear.

"40.7 degrees celsius," Dream said a few seconds later. Everyone shone like ghosts.

"Fuck, Bad we gotta get him to the hospital, like right now," Finn said, standing up.

"If his temperature goes any higher he could suffer brain damage, we need to go now," Clay said. Darryl quickly pulled Zak up from the couch, waking him up. He let him stand still for a minute before rushing him over to his shoes, quickly putting them on and tying them up for him. Everyone rushed around the room, grabbing phones, shoes and coats. They quickly rushed out of the house, locking it up and into a car, a car with enough seats for all of them. Clay drove, with Harvey in the front. Darryl sat in the middle with Zak, keeping him conscious and taking care of him. Finn sat next to Zak on the opposite side. Tommy and Tubbo slipped into the back. Tubbo was crying with guilt and Tommy was trying to comfort him. Jacob decided to stay at the house for when the other got there.

Clay found the nearest hospital and they drove off quickly. Throughout the ride, Darryl stopped Zak from going unconscious, worried what would happen if he let him stay under. Harvey messaged the other people and told them where they were and what had happened, and told them to take the stuff inside when they got there. Tommy decided to tweet when Tubbo had calmed down.

_'Just heard BadBoyHalo swear, feeling...very very bad actually, send some love to @skeppy please'_

He gained very many replies, from stans and ccs alike. Stans being unbelieving due to previous lies *cough couch* vlog *cough cough.* He even got unbelieving replies from content creators that knew Bad.

_@JustVurb: Wait really?_

_@WilburSoot: What happened Tommy? (@Skeppy <3<3<3)_

_@NotAnfrost: @skeppy i'm wishing you the best <3_

_@_________ : Did he really Tommy or are you just making that up_

_@_____________ : doubtful that he swore_

_@_______ : THIS IS LIKE THE VLOG ALL OVER AGAIN NOOOO_

_@__________________ : tommy please tell the truth_

_@_______ : DID SKEPPY AND BAD HAVE A FIGHT??_

_@__________ : wait did they stop being friends or something_

_@____________ : did they have another divorce_

Tommy saw the unbelieving tweets of the stans and the tweets worried about a fight and decided to tweet another thing before they got to the hospital.

_'Don't worry, Skeppy and Bad did not have a fight. Skeppy is just "needing-medical-attention" sick and Bad is very worried.'_

The stans after that sent an immense amount of loving messages and support to the sick boy, along with ccs, sending him dms.

They arrived at the hospital about 15 minutes after leaving. Everyone rushed out of the car, and Darryl gently helped Zak out of the car. Zak stood still for a second, the world turning into a stunning galaxy as he waited for the dizziness to fade. He allowed himself to get pulled along by Darryl.

The group stormed into the entrance to the ER, the secretary looking up from their desk. Clay rushed up to the desk to talk to the person.

"How may I help you today," they said, peeking at the large group.

"Hi, my friend over there-" He pointed to Zak, who was being supported by Darryl "- has a high fever, around 105, was throwing up earlier, is having trouble breathing, and is extremely delirious."

The secretary stayed quiet typing on the computer.

"What's the name?" They asked a moment later.

"Uh, Darryl?" Clay responded, not sure what to say.

"That's his name," Clay said quickly after, pointing at Darryl. "Zak is the sick person." The receptionist smiled.

"Thank you, you can sit, wherever you want. Someone will get you in a bit" they said. Clay sent them a grateful smile and walked to the group.

"It'll be a few minutes," he said to Darryl. Darryl nodded, looking away from Zak for a minute. He led Zak to a soft chair against the wall and sat him down. Zak looked at him, though he looked as if he were staring past him, or straight through him. Darryl sat in the chair next to him. The others fanned out to the other chairs in the room and sat down. The room was silent for a few minutes.

A young woman soon stepped out of a door by the reception desk.

"Zak and Darryl?" She called. A look of surprise appeared on her face as she saw all the people in the room stand up.

"Woah, we can only have 3 people in the room," she said, looking amused. Tommy quickly ran up to Darryl.

"Can Tubbo go in with you? He feels very guilty and I think he would feel better if you let him with you," he said quietly. Darryl nodded and looked toward Tubbo.

"Toby, do you wanna come too?" He asked, calling over to him. Tubbo rushed over, looking slightly relieved. Darryl helped Zak up and they followed the doctor to a room. The three entered and Dr. Jola pointed to the cot where Zak could sit.

"So, what seems to be wrong," she said, already putting on gloves and getting supplies.

"He has a high fever, a cough, he was throwing up earlier, he's been passing out a lot, and he's delirious. With his coughs, he shows, like, a lot of pain on his face. I'm sure there's more, but that's what i can think of right now," Darryl said quickly. Dr. Jola reached for the thermometer that was hanging from the wall. It looks more complex and advanced than the one that Harvey and Finn had gotten.

She walked over to Zak, and asked him softly to open his mouth. It took a few seconds for him to comprehend the request, but once he did, he opened his mouth for her. She slipped the thermometer into his mouth, then held it there. She turned to look at Darryl.

"How harsh do his coughs sound?" She asked.

"Very bad," Tubbo piped in.

"Ok ok," she said, nodding her head.

"How long has he been like this?" She asked.

"That's the thing. We don't know. We only found out he was sick today. He was hiding it for at least a week," Darryl said. She frowned.

"That's never good," she said. The thermometer beeped and she pulled it away.

"105," she said, "Yeah that's not okay."

"I'm gonna test him for anything that could cause a fever to go this high. If it's truly just a fever caused by a virus, there's not much we can do other than let it play out," she said, starting to gather some tools from her desk.

"It may be strep that is causing the fever, but the throwing up I'm not sure about," she said, grabbing a packet. She opened it, pulling out the swab. She opened Zak's mouth and brought it to the back of his throat then quickly pulled it out a few seconds later.

"I'm going to give this to my assistant so she can find the results," she said, leaving the room. When she returned a few minutes later, she returned with a paper.

"So Strep is negative," she said. She reached to her desk again.

"There's not many other tests we can do, and based on his symptoms, they all sound unlikely."

"From my guess, it started as influenza, then he ignored it or something among the sorts, and it got worse. I'm still going to look him over for any injuries or wounds that may have caused an infection," she said. She did some classic things that get done with a regular checkup, such as looking in the ears, seeing if he can track light and so on.

She asked him to breathe deeply, seeing how it sounded through her stethoscope. He pulled in one deep breath before tears gathered in his eyes.

He didn't realize how shallowly he was breathing from his ribs until he took a deep breath. His breath sent white hot pain through his chest, and he started coughing, causing more pain.

Dr. Jola pulled the instrument out of her ears, and placed a hand on his left side, pressing slightly. He winced slightly. She did the same with the other side, and he gasped, tears again coming to his eyes. She lifted his shirt, seeing a black and blue bruise running up his side. Darryl and Tubbo gasped in shock.

"Broken ribs," she said quietly.

"I'm going to move you guys to the x-ray room, to test if he in fact does have some broken ribs," she said, ushering them up and out of the room. They entered a dark room. She asked Zak to stand in the middle of the room, which he did. She rotated him so his right side was facing a camera looking machine. She lifted his right arm over his head and his left on his hip. He hissed in pain.

She brought Darryl and Toby to a small guarded off area in the room. The assistant that was already there pressed a few buttons, a few seconds later, Dr. Jola brought them out and grabbed Zak.

"We're going to a new room," she said, leading them to a new, bigger room. Zak sat down again, groaning slightly.

"So, we can't do much for the fever, except tell you to give him acetaminophen, which we can give you a bottle of, and to have him rest, drink fluids, yknow, the basics," she said.

"The bruising on his side is a sign of bruised or broken ribs, which is why we had him get an x-ray. The results will be a few minutes, so now we wait," she said.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Tubbo asked quietly.

"Absolutely," Dr. Jola said. They sat in silence, with the occasional coughing fit and groans from Zak. The door opened minutes later and the doctor's assistant walked in wordlessly, handing her the papers.   
  
Jola tutted at the results.

"Two broken ribs on the right," she said, turning to look at Zak.

"Hey, buddy, look at me," she whispered, trying to grab his limited attention. He looked at her as best he could.

"Did you hurt your ribs?" Soft smiles accompanied her statement. Zak nodded slightly.

"Do you know how?" Another nod. She gave him a pointed look.

"I was, I was coughing. Really badly. I couldn't stop coughing. Then my ribs hurt really bad," he said quietly. Her eyebrows creased.

"That shouldn't cause them to break though. At most it would be a fracture. Is there anything else?" She asked.

"Oh yeah, I also fell down the stairs after," he said with a smile and a giggle. He raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah I think that's a pretty important thing to know," she said. She turned back to the other two.

"He should be fine. The illness should be gone in about a week if you take care of him correctly. The ribs will take a few weeks to heal, and he's gonna be in pain, a lot. I would wrap him in bandages so his ribs wont hurt as much, but that can cause pneumonia and we wouldn't want that would we?"

"I'm gonna give you a bottle of acetaminophen, it's really just tylenol, and some extra information about broken ribs, care instructions, et cetera," she said, standing up. The others followed suit, Darryl helped Zak stand up.

"If his fever gets any higher, or he stays unconscious for over 10 minutes and you can't wake him up, come back as soon as possible," she said, leaving the room. She waved goodbye with a smile, walking down the hall, the others walking the opposite way. 


	14. 13

They walked through the door to the waiting room, everyone that came with them, stood up. Clay hurried up to Darryl.

"What is it? what happened?" He asked. Darryl kinda brushed him off, going to the receptionist.

They handed him a bottle and some papers, which he gladly accepted. He made a payment, ignoring everyone and what they were saying. Once, he had finished, they stepped away. He shushed them, pointing to Zak, who had a pained expression on his face. They shut up a bit, still talking and trying to get information out of them. Tubbo quickly walked over to Tommy, reaching for a hug. They walked out of the hospital, and to the car. Once everyone had gotten into the car, Darryl explained.

"Just a virus and-" He hesitated.

"Bad, it's probably important that you tell us what's wrong," said Clay, backing out of the parking space.

"He has two broken ribs," Darryl announced quietly. Many shouts of 'what' were heard from the car, which were immediately regretted at Zak's reaction, which was covering his ears and moaning with pain.

"The doctor gave him an x-ray, it showed that he had two broken ribs. Apparently he got them from coughing and then falling down the stairs," Tubbo said from the back. A silence fell upon the car. They drove in silence until they got back to the house. When they got there, they pulled into the driveway next to Sapnap's car, signaling that the three were back with Zak's stuff. They all got out of the car and piled into the house. The people left in the house looked up at the crowd of people coming through the door. George, George, and Nick were all inside, with boxes around them.

"Hey, you're back," Sapnap said, setting down a box he was moving. They spotted Zak, who looked paler than earlier and dazed.

"How is he?" Geo asked.

"Um, not good," Darryl said, stepping to the front and leading Zak to the couch so he could sit.

"So you guys went to the hospital, what did they say?" George said, while everyone fanned around the room, deciding to grab the boxes of Zak's stuff and take it to what was going to be his room.

"They said that it's just a virus, but he also has two broken ribs," Darryl said quietly. The room got dead silent.

"Oh shit," George whispered.

"Looks like he's gonna be out of commission for a bit," Geo said, looking at Zak, who was shivering on the couch. Darryl approached him quietly.

"Hey buddy, you gotta take some medicine," he whispered. Zak stared blankly at him, his eyes half lidded. Darryl opened the bottle of pills and quickly got a glass of water and showed them to Zak. Zak grabbed the pills and straight up took them dry. He winced at the rough pain it gave his sore throat.

Darryl slipped onto the couch next to him, getting ready to read the papers the doctor gave him, putting the water on the table next to the couch. Zak shivered next to him and Darryl saw him try to close his eyes to sleep, but was quite unable too.

"Hey, you trying to sleep?" Darryl whispered to him. Zak whined and nodded. He gave him a pitying look and repositioned the boy so he could breathe easier and was more comfy, laying against Darryl. Zak sighed, resting his weight against Darryl. Darryl's mind flashed back to when they first met up, a few weeks prior, and remembered Zak's touch starvedness and pulled him closer.

" 'm gonna get you sick," Zak slurred. Darryl shook his head.

"It's okay if I get sick," he said softly.

"But I don't wan you to get sick," Zak said.

"Go to sleep," Darryl responded, softly commanding the boy. Zak let out a low noise, painfully wincing. Everyone stayed as quiet as they could while he tried to get to sleep, and as soon as he had fallen asleep, they returned to being a little louder, moving his boxes to his room.   
  
Bad read all the papers the hospital secretary gave him while the boy got some rest, and the others started to set up his room and put stuff away. Everything was pretty quiet for a while, away from the noise of construction for the first time. After a bit though, soft whimpers emitted from the sickie. Soon, tears were slowly peeping out of his closed eyes and he was shuffling around an awful lot.

When Zak started to cry out, Darryl drew the line, shaking him awake from whatever was haunting his dreams. As soon as Zak's eyes opened, he latched onto Bad, resting his head on his shoulder. Bad gently held onto him back, rocking the boy so he would calm down. People rushing into the room to see what the commotion was, then giving Zak a pitying look.

"Hey, it's okay, it wasn't real," Bad whispered.

"Oh my god," Zak whispered, his voice shaky with fear.

"Hey, look at me, I'm real and whatever you were seeing was not," Darryl whispered. The two sat together for a few minutes, Darryl whispering to Zak to try to bring him down, and Zak not understanding that it was just a dream.

Darryl started panicking, not understanding why he was still upset, and tried to think of things to calm him down. He wrapped him up in a comforting hug, letting him cry. He ran his fingers through his hair, hoping the touch would soothe him. Some comforting words and his soft voice helped him fall off the terror high he was on after some time.

It took awhile for him to calm down, but when he did, he would not let go of Bad. Darryl tried to get the delirious boy to let go of him and go back to sleep but, no luck as he would freak out everytime Darryl moved away or forced him to let go. Darryl gave up and let him hold onto him, but gently told him to go back to sleep. After a bit, the boy fell back asleep, though his hold did not loosen. He got about three hours worth of sleep, more than he had gotten consecutively in a hot minute.

When he woke back up, shuffling around, he had to sit for a minute, waking up slowly. He stared blankly, swaying slightly in his seat. Once he was more awake, Darryl gave him some water, having him drink the whole cup. After he had drunk it all, he relaxed back onto the couch, closing his eyes again. After a bit, Darryl took his temperature, sighing with relief as he saw it was significantly lower than before, averaging more around 102 instead of 105.

Delirious Skeppy was sillier than drunk Skeppy. Everything seemed hilarious to him. George yelled at Dream beause Dream was teasing him and Zak burst into laughter. He wouldn't stop laughing and everything that anyone did seemed to make him laugh harder. He eventually calmed down, wincing in pain from his ribs.

"Regret that," he whispered, his voice strained. He squeezed his eyes shut for a minute, trying to reduce the pain. He opened his eyes to look towards Darryl, but he froze in his spot, staring in fear at the wall. He didn't move and everyone could feel the fear radiating off of him. Darryl shook him.

"Zak, what's wrong?" Darryl asked softly.

"I...I think I'm seeing things," Zak whispered, his eyes moving with something that wasn't there.

"Hey, look at me," Darryl said softly. Zak stayed staring. Darryl grabbed his face and pulled it softly so he was looking at him.

"It's not real. What you're seeing is not real. But me? I'm real. Dream and George and Sapnap are real. Everything is real, except for what you were looking at," Darryl whispered. Zak nodded, squeezing his eyes shut. He grabbed ahold of Bad's hand.

"You're real. The thing is not," Zak whiserped. They all sat in silence for a bit until Zak opened his eyes again.

"It wasn't real," he whispered. Darryl hummed and nodded. Zak sighed in relief.

"Hurts," he whispered a second later. Darryl frowned.

"I know it does," he whispered. Zak relaxed back onto the couch, keeping his eyes closed. They stayed together on the couch for a while.

They made Zak stay at the new house, with Darryl and Clay staying too to take care of him. Zak kept waking up throughout the night, from pain or sickness, and from fever dreams. It was a rough night for all of them, tiring especially. They really had no clue how Zak was going to be in the morning, if his sickness was going to be better or worse. They would just have to wait to see. 


End file.
